European Prize for Urban Public Space 2024 , Barcelona/ Spanien

Press release

The "Park at the Warsaw Uprising Mound" and the “Beach improvement and redevelopment of the harbour edge” in Porto do Son, are the winners of the 2024 European Prize for Urban Public Space

The international jury has awarded the European Prize for Urban Public Space 2024 to the "Park at the Warsaw Uprising Mound", by the studios topoScape and Archigrest. In particular, the jury values the fact that the project has been able to embrace the memory of this place through its materiality. Hence, rubble from the Second World War that has shaped the mound is transformed into concrete to create the park’s new structures.

In the Seafronts Category, the European Prize for Urban Public Space has been awarded to the project “Beach improvement and redevelopment of the harbour edge” in Porto do Son (a municipality of the province of A Coruña) by the studios CREUSeCARRASCO and RVR Arquitectos. The jury considers that that project rectifies the previous poor relationship between the port and civic activities in the town of Porto do Son, and also enhances direct contact between town and sea.

The European Prize for Urban Public Space is an initiative of the Centre of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB). In this twelfth award of the Prize, a total of 297 projects were submitted from 35 European countries. Last June, the international jury chose ten finalist works, five from each category.

The European Prize for Urban Public Space is a biennial honorary award which, since 2000, has recognised the best projects to create, transform, and recover public spaces in European cities.

The prize in the Seafronts Category is part of the Cultural Regatta, a programme of activities promoted by the Barcelona City Council on the occasion of the holding of the America’s Cup in the city.

Barcelona, 29 October 2024_ Today, at 6.30 p.m. the official award ceremony for the 12th edition of the European Prize for Urban Public Space took place at the CCCB.

The international jury, presided by the prestigious urbanist architect and landscape and industrial designer Beth Galí, awarded first prize in the General Category to the "Park at the Warsaw Uprising Mound", by the studios topoScape and Archigrest.
In the Seafronts Category, which was included in this year’s Prize to draw attention to the role of coastal cities in a situation of extreme climate phenomena, the Jury awarded first prize to the project titled Beach improvement and redevelopment of the harbour edge in Porto do Son by CREUSeCARRASCO and RVR Arquitectos.

Regarding the general category winner, the "Park at the Warsaw Uprising Mound", the jury particularly values the project because it offers a public space that innovatively connects with its history, revitalising an urban area and paying homage to its past by creating a unique integration between remembrance, leisure possibilities, and the social ecosystem.

The jury particularly values the fact that the project has been able to embrace the memory of this place through its materiality. Hence, rubble from the Second World War that shapes the mound is transformed into concrete to create the park’s new structures. The design acknowledges that the space and the citizens' experience become part of a collective memory, approaching history not through monumentalism but through a material, ecological and pedagogical lens. The park becomes a memorial in itself. The project stands out for recognizing the complexity of public space, which comprises multiple layers of meaning and interaction.

By reconfiguring the traditional aesthetics of an urban park, it reimagines the park as a deep ecological entity, accepting invasive species and embracing an element of "unfinished" imagination that encourages user engagement and unveils a new aesthetic for urban parks.

As for the project in Porto do Son, winning work in the Seafronts Category, the jury draws attention to the dual aim of this project: renaturalising the seaside promenade with dunes protecting a preexisting park, and reestablishing the relationship between the port and the local community. The project remedies the previous poor relationship between the port and civic activities of the town of Porto do Son and fosters direct contact between town and sea. The daring, even radical decision to preserve the old wall that protects the town from especially rough seas, and to situate the new facilities on the reverse side is highly rated by the jury. The new facilities will bring new community life to a space that was previously reserved exclusively for port activities.

The jury members especially applaud the fact that the project demonstrates deep understanding of the issues it addresses, including the need to protect and integrate architecture and seafront defences; the urgency of ensuring access to the water for all members of the community by connecting this experience as closely as possible with the urban fabric; the need to provide infrastructure that enhances pedestrian use of the waterfront; and the importance of safeguarding and restoring natural systems in a situation of urbanisation and climate change. This approach is handled with honesty, care, and thoroughgoing architectural expertise, resulting in a design that is both responsive to urban needs and respectful of natural systems.

Finalist works
Last June the Jury has chosen, entre a total of 297 projects entered, 10 finalist works, five of each category of the award. In addition, the Jury has selected another 20 projects entered in the General Category, for their high quality. All of them, will be included in the Digital Archive, the catalogue and the traveling exhibition of the current edition.

The finalist works in the General Category are:
· Boca de la Mina Promenade. Reus, Spain. Batlleiroig
· Seven Interventions in Monte. Castel San Pietro, Switzerland. StudioSer
· Exhibition Hall. Charleroi, Belgium. AgwA and architecten jan de vylder inge vinck
· Urban Forest. Tbilisi, Georgia. Ruderal

The finalist works in the Seafront Category are:
· Redevelopment of Dún Laoghaire Baths. Dublin, Ireland. DLR Architects’ Department, A2 Architects
· Coastal Walk. Palamós, Spain. Estudi Martí Franch Arquitectura del Paisatge, Ardevol Consultors Associats
· See Park. Rímini, Italy. Benedetta Tagliabue - EMBT Architects
· Beach Bulevard. Delfzijl, The Netherlands. LAOS landscape urbanism

History of a Prize with a European and Social Vocation
The natural space of the European Prize for Urban Public Space is that of European cities which, despite their diversity, have some historic elements in common, among them their human scale, compact design, and a mixed nature of uses.

In keeping with this idea of the European city, public space plays an essential role in providing a collective meeting place that is permeated with political, economic, and social values that are indivisible from a physical design that brings them together and makes them possible. Hence, the Prize, with its observation of the quality of public spaces, also becomes a project that calls attention to, and engenders reflection about quality of life and the democratic status of European cities.

Throughout its twenty-four-year history and twelve awards, the Prize has received 2,829 projects and, so far, has offered 19 awards and 35 Special Mentions.

The online European Prize for Urban Public Space Archive brings together the best projects (finalists and selected projects) that have been submitted since the Prize was inaugurated in 2000. A total of 382 exemplary public spaces located in 200 European cities and towns may be consulted online through wide-ranging documentary material that offers a comprehensive account of the strategies of public space intervention that have been implemented in Europe over the last 24 years.

Advisory Board
The European Prize for Urban Public Space is an initiative of the Centre of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB), which has the support of the following European institutions:

Arc en Rêve, Bordeaux, France
Architekturzentrum Wien – AzW, Vienna, Austria
ArkDes, Stockholm, Sweden
La Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine, Paris, France
CIVA, Brussels, Belgium
Deutsches Architekturmuseum – DAM, Frankfurt, Germany
Eesti Arhitektuurimuuseum, Tallin, Estonia
Kortárs Építészeti Központ – Kék, Budapest, Hungary
Muzej za Arhitekturo in Oblikovanje – MAO, Ljubljana, Slovenia
The Architecture Foundation – AF, London, United Kingdom

The Centre of Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB)
The CCCB is a multidisciplinary cultural centre that deals with the key challenges of contemporary society through different languages and formats, with an extensive programme that includes major thematic exhibitions, series of conferences and literary meetups, film screenings and festivals. Since its earliest days, it has encouraged reflection on contemporary cities and the challenges faced by today’s world.